That brings up an interesting thought or two. There's nothing wrong with using a calculator to achieve the correct answer but when doing the calculations yourself does the brain make more connections between brain cells because it is having to work harder to make those connections? If so, does it help the brain to keep more active and stave off Alzheimer's?
Arthur C Clarke wrote a SciFi book about a spaceships computer packed up; fortunately they had access to the equations and a member of the science team had grown up using an abacus. So the engineers made a load of abacuses (abaci?) and the entire crew then learnt how to use them, they were divided into teams and the equations broken down into chunks, then pairs of teams did each section one team checking the other team. When they got back in radio range of Earth control could check the calculations and fine tune them. Result they arrived safely back on Earth.
Touch type and talk? Crikey, @KT53, you is ambidextrous-linguisticus! I can play the piano ... and I can talk ... but I absolutely cannot do both together. Even speaking one word would halt the flow of my playing. I can nod my head yes or no, but that is in.
@NigelJ I didn't mention all those other women because I was specifically talking about femal programmers and computers, the latter group giving their name to the machines. And yes, of course we can say that men are better than women at some things tho I can't think of much beyond heavy lifting because of the greater muscle mass. I too learned to do logarithms with a book of tables but have never needed to do so in any aspect of my life so all forgotten now but I'm sure they must be useful to somebody.
Many years ago, until Mrs Shiney banned me from doing it, I used to read, join in conversation with her and watch TV. For some reason she thought it was antisocial
So no: they were called computers for the function they performed and it was the same logic for the developing electronic machines. Why did you specifically choose women in programming and computers? You missed Admiral Grace Hopper, Dame Stephanie Shirley and Heddy Lamar.
Decades ago my brother gave up playing chess with me as I'd pause from reading look at the board, move and go back to the book. The problem was I generally won.
This is an important skill, not just when solving problems at school but in real life. Numbers can be blinding, but if one automatically first starts to estimate the likely magnitude of the outcome, it helps detecting errors so easily done when just playing with numbers. In gardening context, being able to picture volumes in bucketfuls and bathtubfuls helps with the confusing measurements given on websites. My professor of mathematics was an exceptional human being when it comes to calculus. He just kind of "saw" where the equation or integral was going, and stopped half way of the demonstration to say something like " ah that's heading towards positive infinity, let's take the next example". Sadly, his talent didin't extend to sartorial achievements. His checkered suits were quite unique.
@NigelJ cos I was sticking to the early women computers and programmers who were there long before men discovered computer programming and word processing. I do know about those other ladies but their work was in a later phase. I always liked COBOL, have worked on systems alongside F International and know about Hedy Lamar's work which led to Wifi, amongst other things.
@Tidemark I use an old galvanised iron tub to hold water in the veg plot. It's the kind that would have been used in front of the fire for the kids' weekly bath in days of yore. No idea how much it holds tho.
Not yet, but I did once confuse my non-gardening colleagues when I had had a luckiest trip to the then Wilko, and had filled my bags with -90% bulbs. I told my colleagues that I really shouldn't have gone that mad, seen that our beds are already chock full of bulbs. Everybody was nodding and smiling politely, and one person timidly explained that they keep their spare bulbs in a box in the cupboard under the stairs. (I keep telling this story as an example of how incredibly tolerant, non- judgemental and kind the British people really are. A mad foreigner fills her bed with cheaply bought spare bulbs ... smile and nod and perhaps give just a hint of kind advise. Thank you )
So you are seriously trying to tell me that the male gender had nothing to do with computers and programming until the female gender had it all under control.Tosh!
Of course not. Just pointing out that women were in there from the start and that their contribution, as in many fields of science and technology, has been almost completely overlooked.
